Samsung, Microsoft to push green IT

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Microsoft Corp. are joining forces to promote efficient energy use in computers. The companies announced the collaboration after a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, between Yoon-Woo Lee, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.

Samsung, a strong supporter of Windows 7, will be migrating all of its corporate PCs worldwide to the new OS beginning in 2010.

The green IT collaboration effort between memory company and software firm is expected to contribute to the revival of IT markets that have been depressed from the economic downturn.

At the beginning of September, Samsung initiated its own global marketing campaign centred around "Less Energy, More Speed", initially focused on its energy-efficient, 40nm-class, 2Gbit DDR3 DRAM.

Also, Microsoft has announced significant reductions in power consumption with the new power management function in its recently released Windows 7 OS.

"Windows 7 was designed as a more environmentally-sound and energy-efficient OS, particularly evident in its managing of memory and when shifting into lower power mode," said Kim James Woo, country manager of Microsoft Korea. He added that "users will enjoy the benefits when Windows 7 and DDR3 are combined."

"There is no doubt that the combination of Windows 7 and 40nm DDR3 in new PCs will make users very happy," said Dong-Soo Jun, executive senior VP of memory marketing at Samsung. He added, "If you opt for 4GB of memory in a Windows 7-based system, over typical 2GB-based systems used today, you'll see an increase in performance, while using less power, thanks to the efficiency of Samsung's 40nm DDR3 DRAM."

In the ensuing months, while measuring the effects of this and other collaborative green IT efforts, Samsung will continue to examine the potential for other areas of global cooperation with Microsoft in IT technology development.